Fritz Lang's Indian Epic

Amazon.com

Long dismissed as the last gasp of a great directing career, Fritz Lang's two-part saga of India needs to be rescued from cinema's dustbin. While it has clear limitations, notably the listless actors and shoddy special effects (hard to overlook the fake tiger), this opus is marked by an awesome sense of formal design, immaculate camera composition, and the creeping sense of fate messing up the characters' lives. In the first part, The Tiger of Eschnapur, we delve into the political and personal intrigue that results from a maharaja's infatuation with a temple dancer (sawed-off, sexy Debra Paget). Lang's pacing is deliberate; sometimes the movie resembles an Indiana Jones yarn slowed to a stroll. But as Lang brings the many threads together, the scheme emerges, and the crisp location shooting in India presents a storybook exoticism that, admittedly, has little to do with reality.

In the second part, The Indian Tomb, a lovesick maharaja exacts his vengeance. Auteurists will recognize Lang's impeccable eye for screen space and his obsessive concern with the price of tempting fate. Even non-auteurists will appreciate the revolt of the underground leper colony and the cobra dance performed by Paget, who wears something less than a bikini. This is melodrama served up without apology by a director more interested in patterns than psychology. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

This is truly a masterpiece!.......2007-08-20

This is a lovely film, one of the best ever made. Although I was not a big fan of Lang's Dr. Mabuse, this movie truly is an epic and a classic, awash with beautiful sets, lavish sights and sounds, and a storyline that is just incredible. You will see many similarities to Indiana Jones here, and it's amazing how much the lead actor appears similar (physically) to Indiana Jones as well as in mannerisms. It even seems as if Spielberg must have had Harrison Ford study this original prototype for his own films. (Since Spielberg is the only Hollywood director with any talent, I'll cut him slack for allowing Lang's films to influence his own.) In sum, a wonderfully exotic film full of romance, mystery, and adventure, but as another reviewer noted, the only difference between the "Indiana Jones" films and Lang's is that the latter deals with serious topics. This film isn't merely a saccharine adventure, but a serious drama as well.

I love Debra Paget!.......2007-01-03

Of course I love Fritz Lang, he was one of the great directors of the 20th century. This is pretty good if ocassionally the low budget peaks through on the sets. The location shooting in India is colorful and wonderful, though.

The great surprise is Debra Paget, an actress I had never paid attention to before. She is fabulous in the movies and her erotic dances, particularly in the second movie, are enough to cause the onset of puberty in a five year old. She is entirely convincing as an Indian princess.

I can recommend the movie for her performance and for the great Saturday afternoon matinee feel to these films. After all, Lang was one of the originators of the cliff hanger serial and this was a return to that style. Great fun!

An Indiana Jones type Indian Adventure, 1960 style.......2006-01-01

As a silent film enthusiast who has enjoyed the German 1921 silent film "The Indian Tomb", written by Fritz Lang and his then-wife Thea von Harbou, I was curious to see this 1959 version of the same story, this time directed by Fritz Lang himself. Although the story is essentially the same and the characters and plots are recognizable, Fritz Lang obviously did a lot of re-writing of the old 1921 screenplay to suit a much different 1959 audience, and I think he succeeded very well. While the original 1921 film is 3 ½ hours long with a more complex and sinister plot, the story has been reworked into two separate films, namely "The Tiger of Eschnapur" and "The Indian Tomb", and has all the hallmarks of a late 1950s, early 60s adventure epic. The quality of these two DVDs is simply excellent, and visually the films are already a delight, being filmed on location in the state of Rajasthan, India - in particular the city of Udaipur, famous for its magnificent palaces which also featured in the James Bond classic, "Octopussy". With real-life Mogul palaces and other striking Indian settings, Lang did not have to go to any great lengths to create a fantasy-like adventure world, not unlike modern-day Indiana Jones movies. Unlike Indiana Jones, however, the story in Lang's Indian Epic is serious: love, jealousy, revenge, intrigues in the royal family, schemes, lepers and a holy man with words of wisdom. The story moves along at a comfortable, steady pace with a good measure of suspense and unexpected turns, along with a nice dose of exotic - and erotic - dancing by Debra Paget. And although fake tigers are always mentioned in connection with "The Tiger of Eschnapur", I would not have noticed if I hadn't heard about it before, as there are plenty of good shots of real, live tigers, and I don't think a one or two second scene of a stuffed tiger or fake cobra should ruin a viewer's overall enjoyment of these two films.

While I would give the story and film quality a 4 ½ - star rating, I was so pleased with this box set in general, the notes on each film inside, the bonus photo gallery and in particular the option of the English-dubbed or original German version (with or without English subtitles) that I'm giving it the full 5 stars. For anyone who speaks German as I do, I'd like to point out that the German language spoken in these two films is absolutely top-class quality and a delight to hear. I'm sure anyone who enjoys 50s and 60s movies will be delighted by this box set and the restored full-length versions of both films (they were previously released in a much condensed version entitled "Journey to the Lost City") and for anyone who has enjoyed the silent 1921 version, this set would surely also be of interest to compare and have a nice change.

Indiana Jones Ancester!.......2005-12-27

I Began to know Fritz Lang with brilliant 1000 eyes of Dr.Mabuse! He was a Genius. Every Single Lang's movie Ive seen was extremely Enjoyable and considered as a masterpiese! Metropolis, Die Nibelungen & ...
But Indian Epic was something else.

metropolis and indiana jones.......2003-04-02

after watching all of fritz lang's films, most of them in black and white, I found myself especially in awe of the color and detail in this dvd....yes, there are strong hints from metropolis: the leper's advance is similar to the movement of the deadly sins and there are complex tunnel passages in both films...as in rancho notorious, the plot deals with hate, murder and revenge; deception and fate also play their strong roles...but it's the way this film looks visually--the colors, costumes, and architecture -- that sets it apart from all the other lang films...it's definitely worth viewing.

Fritz Lang's Indian Epic (The Tiger of Eschnapur / The Indian Tomb)

Average customer rating:

This is truly a masterpiece!
I love Debra Paget!
An Indiana Jones type Indian Adventure, 1960 style
Indiana Jones Ancester!
metropolis and indiana jones

Fritz Lang's Indian Epic (The Tiger of Eschnapur / The Indian Tomb)
Starring: Debra Paget , Paul Hubschmid , Walter Reyer , Claus Holm , and Luciana Paluzzi
Director: Fritz Lang
Manufacturer: Fantoma
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B00007L4ME
Release Date: 2003-02-11

Amazon.com

Description

After more than two decades of exile in Hollywood, master filmmaker Fritz Lang triumphantly returned to his native Germany to direct this lavish two-part adventure tale from a story he co-authored almost forty years earlier. Called to India by the Maharajah of Eschnapur, architect Paul Hubschmid falls in love with beautiful temple dancer Seetha (Debra Paget), who is promised to the Maharajah. Their betrayal ignites the ruler's wrath, and the lovers are forced to flee into the desert for a series of spectacular adventures! Featuring breathtaking location photography and nail-biting suspense, this epic is highlighted by Paget's erotic temple dance, a battle to the death with a man-eating tiger, sandstorms, a cave of lepers, and a bloody palace rebellion. Together these films provide a cinematic link between classic silent serials and the modern action thrills of Indiana Jones and The Mummy. Previously available in America as "Journey to the Lost City," a radically condensed 90-minute version, these exotic masterpieces are presented in this specially priced 2-disc boxed set completely restored to their original splendor! (The two films in this set--"The Tiger Of Eschnapur" and "The Indian Tomb"--are also available individually.)

Customer Reviews:

This is truly a masterpiece!.......2007-08-20

I love Debra Paget!.......2007-01-03

An Indiana Jones type Indian Adventure, 1960 style.......2006-01-01

Indiana Jones Ancester!.......2005-12-27

metropolis and indiana jones.......2003-04-02

DVD:

DVD

DVD